How Do You Score your Sleep Apnea with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale?

The test is simple, and you can test your sleepiness right now. You have to imagine yourself in the eight situations described earlier, selecting your likelihood of dozing in each one.

So, how likely are you to doze off or fall asleep in those situations, in contrast to feeling just tired? This refers to your usual way of life in recent times.

Even if you haven't been in some of these situations recently, try to work out how they would have affected you. Use the following scale to choose the most appropriate number for each situation:

0 - I would never doze

1 - slight chance of dozing

2 - moderate chance of dozing

3 - high chance of dozing

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Test Your Daytime Sleepiness With Epworth Scale

Sitting and reading:

Watching TV:

Sitting inactive in a public place (e.g a theater or a meeting):

As a passenger in a car for an hour without a break:

Lying down to rest in the afternoon when circumstances permit:

Sitting and talking to someone:

Sitting quietly after a lunch without alcohol:

In a car, while stopped for a few minutes in traffic:

Scoring:

Please add the numbers related to selected situations and check what is the total score. Below you will discover what does your number actually mean?

How to Interpret the Epworth SCORE with Sleep Apnea?

Generally, a total of 10 points or higher is cause for
concern. Individual epworth sleepiness scale score of 16 are typically
seen only in individuals with narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia, or
moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea.

Also, the less appropriate the circumstances - such as when stopped
in traffic while driving or during a conversation - the more dangerously
sleepy you are.

Discussing the Epworth SCORE with your Doctor

When you meet with your sleep doctor, he or she will review your questionnaire and sleep diary with you and ask follow-up questions.

To get an accurate picture of what factors may be affecting your sleep, the sleep doctor is likely to ask you about recent changes in your residence, job, marital status, children, pets, and other possible stress-related issues.

Next, the doctor may assess your sleepiness by seeing how you rate on epworth scale. This step is crucial, since people are often bad at judging this phenomenon themselves.

This is often true, because many people are so used to sleep deprivation that they don't realize how tired they are.They may see themselves as unmotivated, lethargic, or lazy, but not sleepy.

In other words, people who have had sleep disorders for all their life may not think it's unusual to fall asleep at a movie or while sitting at a dinner with friends.

Bottom line...

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale has been reported to correlate with the degree of physiologic sleepiness as measured by the multiple sleep latency test if the score is greater than 16.

It is important to appreciate that the presence of excessive daytime sleepiness is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for OSA: Many patients with AHI greater than 5 do not report daytime sleepiness and many subjects report sleepiness in the absence of sleep apnea.